The Kolb Learning Style Inventory—Version 3.1 2005 - Whitewater ...

Nursing. Stiernborg, Zaldivar, and Santiago (1996) conducted a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design study
to assess the comparative effectiveness of didactic teaching and experiential learning in a HIV/AIDS training program
for nursing students in the Philippines. The program focused on improvement of HIV/AIDS knowledge levels
and attitudinal change toward HIV/AIDS patients. The authors hypothesized that experiential learning would yield
signifi cantly higher knowledge levels and favorable attitude changes in the students than didactic teaching. Three
groups of nursing students participated in the study: the fi rst group received didactic teaching in the form of lectures,
while the second group had training with an experiential learning approach. Both groups included participation by a
person with HIV/AIDS. The third group served as a control group and did not receive any formal HIV/AIDS training.
The didactic and experiential groups covered the same content, including AIDS epidemiology, infection control,
socio-ethical issues related to HIV infection, and nursing care of patients in the hospital and community. The didactic
group had a two-hour presentation by the instructors, followed by a 30-minute Q & A session on the presentation.
The session fi nished with 30 minutes with an AIDS patient. The experiential learning group had the presentation
and discussion of a number of short case situations and a number of role-plays with student participation. The session
ended with 30 minutes with an AIDS patient. Knowledge post-test scores indicate that both didactic and experiential
learning approach produced a signifi cant increase in the students’ knowledge levels. However, the experiential learning
group achieved a signifi cantly higher knowledge level than the didactic group. While both groups reduced fear of
attracting HIV (an indication of a positive attitude change), only the experiential learning group showed a consistent
positive change on all attitudinal scales.
The authors concluded that the experiential learning approach was more effective than the didactic approach for
knowledge acquisition in fi ve signifi cant ways: fi rst, the problem-posed approach prompted students to get actively
involved in the learning process through role-play. Second, it emphasized personal involvement through refl ection.
Third, the cases refl ected the real world and encouraged integration of theory and policy and their practical applications.
Fourth, the experiential learning session was fl exible and learner centered. Fifth, the participation of an AIDS
patient formed an integral part of the experiential learning session, whereas in the didactic session, the lecture, the Q
& A session, and the patient with HIV-AIDS testimonial were separate parts with no opportunity for integration.
Medicine. Cleave-Hogg and Morgan (2002) designed an anesthesia simulation based on experiential learning for
undergraduate medical students. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the anesthesia simulation experience
based on three grounds: 1) it provides opportunity to activate relevant prior knowledge and raise awareness of the gaps
in their knowledge, 2) offers a learning context that closely resembles a real-life anesthesia practice, and 3) provides
freedom to integrate their knowledge, to improve their skills, and to exercise their judgment without endangering a
patient. The authors contend that the results of the study support the value of integrating the experiential simulation
exercise in the anesthesia undergraduate curriculum.
Sandmire and Boyce (2004) investigated the performance of two-person collaborative problem-solving teams in an
allied health education anatomy, physiology, and pathology course. They compared a group of high abstract/high
concrete student pairs with a group of abstract pairs and a group of concrete pairs. The abstract/concrete pairs performed
signifi cantly better on a simulated clinical case than did the abstract pairs and slightly better than the concrete
pairs, indicating the value of integrating the abstract and concrete dialectics of the learning cycle. However, a similar
study by Sandmire, Vroman, and Sanders (2000) investigating pairs formed on the action/refl ection dialectic showed
no signifi cant performance differences.
Psychiatry. Milne, James, Keegan, and Dudley developed an empirical method of assessing the effectiveness of mental
health trainers’ transaction patterns and their impact on student learning. The instrument, Teacher’s PETS (Process
Evaluation of Training and Supervision), was derived through operationalization of the experiential learning theory
with the main purpose of providing empirically valid and reliable data on the trainers’ behaviors during training sessions.
The instrument was designed around the four dimensions of the learning cycle and “is an explicitly transactional
one in which learners play an essential role in relation to the trainers, who will be at times responsive and at times
proactive” (2000: 189) in any given learning situation. The key feature of the model, the authors suggest, is the fl uid,
39